Introduction

Mental health pharmacy

Introduction

Mental illnesses are common and vary from those that have a severe impact on the person throughout his or her life to those of a more minor nature. What sets mental illnesses apart is the societal impact of these illnesses. Changing views about whether or not such illnesses should be managed within a separ-ate setting or be seen as the same as other illnesses or diseases has affected both the development of mental health services generally and mental health pharmacy specifically. It is important to note that learning disability (LD) is different from mental illness, although there are areas of commonality. Historically, the two have been linked in that similar institutions were created to house people with LD and much of the medical care for LD is provided by psychiatrists. The pharmacy services were often the same.

Throughout the UK mental health pharmacy services vary greatly from area to area. This chapter provides an overview of mental health pharmacy and explains how such variety has occurred, including the historical perspec-tive and the important impact of the service.